Education center in Syria ‘a source of hope’ for women

AZAZ, Syria

An all-women run education center at a refugee camp in Syria has become "a source of hope" for women and young girls, its manager said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Fadi Ibrahim, the manager of the Ruvayda education center, said: “Our aim is to support women and young girls to hold on to life. We want to be a source of hope for them.”

Funded by the Istanbul-based IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, the center is located inside the Semmarin refugee camp in northwestern Azaz city. The center provides courses in hairdressing, tailoring, handcraft, first aid and Turkish language.

The refugee camp hosts nearly 6,000 refugees who had to flee their homes due to the Syrian war that continues since 2011.

"We have been giving courses to 134 women widows and orphan girls," she said.

International Women’s Day

Speaking about the difficult living conditions of women and young girls at refugee camps, Ibrahim said that the March 8 International Women’s Day has “no meaning for Syrian women”.

“International Women’s Day has no meaning for Syrian women here, it is only a regular day as any other,” she said.

“We, the women of war, have seen nothing but pain and grief for eight years. We have lost our relatives, we are also experiencing difficulties economically. As Syrian women and children, we have had very difficult times and we continue to have so,” she added.

Ibrahim said that the education center helped her to hold on to life again, giving her the opportunity to give back to her community by helping other women.

“With this project, I could hold on to life again. The Project helped me to feel like a woman again,” she said.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.